Thanks for Not Smoking

Last week, I arrived late at night to a hotel on a business trip. I couldn’t wait to get into my room and just relax. On the first try, they sent me to a room that was already occupied by my photographer (somehow they thought we were sharing a room and I was not about to share a room with my male colleague, though it did make for an interesting story the next day) So they gave me another room. At this point, it’s about 11:30 at night and I had a meeting at 8 AM. I just wanted to shower and go to bed. Turns out, this room was a smoking room. They still have those? Apparently! I couldn’t bare going back downstairs to ask for another room, and I reasoned with myself that I wouldn’t be in there that much, so I sucked it up… and it sucked!

I’m not a smoker. Never have been, never will be. And quite frankly, I don’t understand people who still are. I can’t imagine paying $9 a pack for something that will slowly kill me. I was thrilled when smoking was banned in restaurants and bars, and I’ve gotten so used to not breathing in smoke, that when I walk down the street I get offended when somebody six feet away from me is smoking.

But I wasn’t always so against smoking. I had a lot of good friends and boyfriends that smoked (some eek — still do), and many people assumed that I did too, probably because of the company I kept. Kids my age smoked when they hung out, when they drove around, when they went clubbing or bar hopping. Smoking was “cool.” And of course, I had to try it. How could I make an educated decision without trying it? I think trying smoking is a rite of passage. It’s when you make the right decision not to be a smoker that you can be declared a responsible adult.

So sorry mom and dad. I tried smoking for the first time in 7th grade. I was hanging out with friends in town when we came across an abandoned pack, probably left behind by other teenagers scared off by lurking cops. Over the years, I would have a cigarette on occasion, but there was never any commitment.

I think there can be a time and place for smoking; a rare time and place when you are just so hammered or hungover nothing will help except a little inhalation. I do credit cigarettes with helping me recover from an alcohol-induced upset stomach on occasion (hey, we all have our remedies). Of course, at the point I was already doing a ton of damage.

But all in all, I can’t stand smoking. It’s amazing to me the change in the culture of smoking that has taken place in my lifetime. It’s certainly been a long time coming! It’s great that my kids won’t have to inhale the stuff everywhere they go like past generations. Now, if only smoking was banned in hotels, I would have slept much better. One day, I’m sure. One day.

I find that difficult to believe. While “smoke” is a bit of a vague term, it seems perfectly reasonable that someone might be allergic to something commonly found in cigarette smoke.

But even if it were impossible to be “allergic” (as in, an immune system response) to cigarette smoke, there are plenty of other respiratory conditions that can make it very uncomfortable, and even fatal, for certain people to be around lit cigarettes. Asthma has already been mentioned somewhere in these comments. I have chronic bronchitis and I, literally, cannot breathe if I am around cigarette smoke while my condition is flaring up. No one will drop dead if you drink a beer in their vicinity, but people may well drop dead if you smoke near them.

The problem is that for the person who has asthma, or whatever other condition, they have no means to avoid cigarette smoke and still have a “normal” life. People smoke everywhere. People smoke on sidewalks, so just getting from point A to point B can be a life-or-death task for these people.

The sad thing is that the solution is so very simple – just smoke in the helpfully designated areas. If smokers did this, people could walk on sidewalks, use doorways, wait at bus stops, etc. without having to worry. All it takes is a little bit of respect and consideration on the part of the smoker. That’s it.

When I started smoking (1960s), everyone was smoking (or so it seemed). I even smoked throughout my first two pregnancies. Then one day I looked around and realized that aside from me, there were only a few people smoking. I knew my days were numbered. I quit in 1976. Although I’m totally against smoking in hotels, etc, I do think it’s interesting that now so many people are sensitive to it (including me). It never used to be that way.

I too hate the smell of cigarette smoke! In America before the ban the restaurants would have smoking and non smoking sections. Everytime I went to Olive Garden the smoke would just seem to waft down the four steps separating the sections! Yuck.

If you go to Las Vegas, you might not want to stay at the Sahara Hotel. Although my room was ‘non-smoking,’ it smelled like people had been smoking in it since it opened its doors 50+ years ago!

I have never tried smoking. I’ve always found smoke nausiating it so I don’t think I could ever try it. No thanks.

Thanks! This is my second time being freshly pressed in 2 months, so I guess I’m doing something right. I actually was in Vegas in August and went to the Sahara (had a great time on the rollercoaster). Because they let you smoke in all of the casinos in Vegas, you can’t avoid it!

I too tried smoking when I was about 14 and it never stuck. I felt gross doing it, what bothers me more now is some smokers attitudes that they have just as much to smoke as we have not to, which in effect is true…but who has “the right of way” when out in public? Too many times I have been out with my children and a smoker stands next to us and lights up with us downwind. I just move myself from the situation to a smoke-free locale, but it seems plain rude!

I am just barely old enough to remember people smoking in shopping malls, on airplanes, and in supermarkets. MacDonalds had these little foil ash trays. That would have been the early 1980s. Interestingly, I was researching the internet last night for the year the trend shifted in the USA. For the most part, all restaurants installed non smoking sections, and smoking was banned on planes and gone from malls between 1980 and 1990.

When smoking was allowed on planes it was a law that the airlines had to circulate fresh air, sucking it in and pressurizing/filtering it before releasing it into the cabin and depressurizing and exhausting the old air. This used a lot of energy for the air pumps But meant that the air you were breathing was never more than two minutes old. Now that they don’t have to do that, it saves the airlines tons of money but it means that the air is never filtered or replaced during flight. Studies show that since smoking was banned on airplanes the average air quality on board US airplanes has gotten much worse, foul odors, germs, viruses, CO2 all in much higher levels than pre-ban days. Once the doors shut at the gate, it’s the same air until you land, it just gets recirculated but not filtered, increasing incidences of the spreading of illnesses and also contributing to irritability/discomfort associated with a build up of carbon dioxide/lack of oxygen in the cabin. Bottom line is that it has been proved that when smoking was allowed on planes the air was much cleaner/fresher but the airlines pushed the bill into law ( by supporting those who would vote for it) because it saves them time/energy/money at the expense of their passenger’s safety/well-being. I’m not saying the only way to solve this is to allow smoking on planes again, just a neat bit of trivia…though maybe they should make a new law about filtering/circulating fresh air on planes.

I agree…so glad to see the change in culture of smoking! My parents smoked when I was little and I knew it was gross, even as a kid. (Mom even used to smoke in the car with the windows rolled up… it would be considered child abuse today!) Don’t get me wrong, I am all for good old American freedom, but lets just keep it away from the kids, okay?

The only “proof” of harm from second hand smoke is by prolonged exposure in enclosed spaces. Any suggestion otherwise is propaganda and bad science from anti-smoking fanatics, indicating once again that fanatics of any kind are, well, fanatics. Apparently, having a “righteous” cause eliminates the requirement for actual evidence. See http://www.smokingaloud.com

To me, the war being waged on smokers sounds exactly like the war being waged on immigrants, gays, Muslims, abortion, drugs, and the poor. In other words, it is primarily a war of prejudice being waged by people who would do better to examine their own flaws.

Walking down the candy aisle in the grocery store makes me mildly nauseous, and obesity appears to be in the running for #1 health hazard in America. Do you want to outlaw candy? fast food? bigotry? Or hey, let’s outlaw booze again. Automobiles? War? Stupidity?

Anti-smokers convict smokers of a “moral” crime and then pat themselves on their self-righteous backs. By all means, let’s eliminate these bad old smokers and make our nation pure again.

hahahaha! That comment made for a good morning laugh. Thanks for that! I love candy, but eat it in moderation. Moderation and respect are two important words. Smoke if you will, just don’t blow it in my face, or in my pillow for that matter.

My parents were both heavy smokers since a young age, and my sister is also a smoker. Even my grandparents were heavy smokers (both quit for health reasons). I myself cannot stand tobacco. I find it vile and unappealing. I don’t understand what is ‘nice’ about smoking. I must be the only person in my direct family who does not smoke. I did try it a couple of times and I found it to be revolting. I completely see where you are coming from. I very much dislike being around smokers and having to inhale air after they’ve been blowing smoke everywhere. Tobacco should be jacked up to an unaffordable price!

Yeah. It seems that watching your parents suck on cigarettes can go either way. It can cause you to look up to it and do the same, or it can put you off smoking for life. Glad it did the latter for the majority of us here. I only need to get a slight sniff of smoke and I want to leave the room – absolutely no immunity whatsoever.

I’m so with you on this! Tried it, never committed. Was appalled when I found out my son smoked. Being that my husband and I don’t smoke, and all the “Don’t smoke, it’s not good for you” lectures didn’t work. Kids will do what they want. My son has quit at this point, but only because of an accident that nearly killed him. Who’s to say he won’t go back someday.

I, too, was in a motel where NO ONE in my family dared to get under the covers. We all slept in our clothes on top of the blankets that had cigarette holes in them. We left first thing the next morning. It was SO gross!

Hey Dana! Congrats on being on the front of WordPress Freshly Press! That’s so exciting, but not surprising given your awesome blog and great topics. This one especially hits home – I currently live above a chain smoker and my quality of life (e.g., having to close all my windows, yet still smell like a cigarette butt) has suffered. I completely respect people’s right to choose – but, when it affects me so negatively I am pissed. For all you smokers out there – is it really worth making your own life shorter and making everyone around you angry? Thanks for a great post!

Shorter, you said? I started smoking in 1965. By what standard do you emphatically state, ‘shorter’. It’s all a lie, it’s a farce, it’s big money for the medical industry and insurance industry. You bought into it. It appears that you know of no pipe smokers. As far as your dislike of smoking is concerned, that I can respect. Someday when you are older and clearer in thinking, you will understand there are worse things in life, many of which, ultimately worse for your health. Be the master of your destiny, not a sheep lead to slaughter by others. If you do not smoke, I applaud your conviction, keep it that way. Those whom opt otherwise may avail themselves to pipe smoking.
Read Mark Beale, MD’s comments by searching online about, ‘pipe smoking’.

I’d say pipe smoking is quite different, and having lost my grandfather to smoking when he was just in his 50s, I’d say “shorter” is very accurate, as would all of the research done on cancer recently, and having felt the damage that smoking does first hand, I’d say slowly killing yourself is probably one of the worst things you can do to yourself.

I live above a chain smoker too, I hate it so much! I can especially smell the smoke in the toilet, it somehow comes up through the pipes. And the other thing is that I can no longer sit out and enjoy the garden on my balcony, as smoke’s always coming up.
I especially don’t understand this person I’m talking about because she has already lost her husband due to smoking. Isn’t that a big enough warning?

Nevada was founded by and still mostly consists of libertarians. Prostitution, gambling and owning fully automatic machine guns are all legal here ( i’m currently saving up for an AK-47)…smoking really isn’t on our radar.

Something that most people do not realize is that diabetes patients can be healthy if they do not smoke.

Most people relate smoking to amputation in diabetes. The reality of this is that smoking takes oxygen out of the blood. Once you have no oxygen in your blood, then your circulation gets bad , really bad.

And then once the circulation has problems, that is when you develop the sores and that is when you , eventually will need hospitalization and or amputation.

One way to avoid the amputation is to go to a good hospital. In some hospitals they automatically opt for operations while the better hospitals and better doctors know that they might be able to treat the person and heal them instead of cutting their limbs off.

So, to stay healthy, heck

STOP SMOKING,

and to remain healthy ,
even if you have a disease,

find and locate good , reputable docs and hospitals BEFORE you need them.

Do some research ,

do lots of research.

That is a good piece on not smoking . Hope that my comments help someone.

Way to go!! Lightning strikes twice. I remember hanging out with the “cool” kids. Thats when I started smoking. Even as a smoker I hate the smell. If Marlboro made potpourri cigarettes I would smoke them instead.

i never smoked. don’t care to. But i never liked how some people just love the goverment banning things they don’t care for. Smoking is legal, like it or not. One day the goverment will ban something you or me may like???

I think banning something that has a negative affect on the immediate people around you is a wonderful idea. It’s not like banning playing music too loud on your ipod. Sure it’s annoying, but it you gotta live with it. Second hand smoke actually harms other people. The govt will always ban something you like.. Massachusetts just put a ban on phone use and texting while driving. Sure it sucks I can’t answer my phone, but people just kept on killing each other… I’m ok with the government banning harmful things that people don’t care for… smoking and texting are two of them.

It’s all about compromise. Your rights end where mine begin. You can smoke. Go for it. Knock yourself out. The point of banning smoking from certain public areas is that it is harmful to other people, people who have chosen not to smoke. When one person’s choice to exercise his freedom starts putting other people’s health in danger, the government rightly intervenes.

Or maybe it should be legal for me to dump my toxic chemicals into your water supply? How DARE the government infringe on my right to do as I please?!

Personally, I have a bad reaction to cigar, cigarette and pipe tobacco smoke. My reaction: Major irritation. Irritation that those who do, don’t respect those of us who don’t. True, some are respectful, some don’t know how bad they reek and some just plain don’t care. This, my reaction!
Sadly, you don’t have to smoke to get cancer ……..but it helps.

you’re just brainwashed. and you – anti-smokers – are getting more and more hysterical. eventually you will obtain the total prohibition, like it used to be for alcohol. oh, it has done soooo much good 😀

This may be unpopular but those who drink alcohol, excessively or otherwise, have no room to talk about the unhealthy habit of smoking. Consuming alcohol is just as dangerous to your health – it’s harmful to your liver and is potentially fatal. Yet, our culture is so obsessed with the culture of getting wasted that we avoid talking about its dangers and instead focus on the dangers of smoking. All inhibitions are dangerous no matter which way you slice it, so to only focus on one harmful inhibition just goes to show that you don’t care about a person’s health – it’s just because you don’t like it. End of it. I hate the smell of alcohol. I hate the drunk people that scream, wail and yell on block in the wee hours of the morning. I hate the fact that any car passing me by on the street can be driven by someone so freaking shitfaced, that there’s the potential for me to be hit and killed or paralyzed. I hate the fact that so many women and men in the world are assaulted while their assailant is drunk. I hate the idea that too much consumption in one night can lead to alcohol poisoning, which can lead to death. Or that alcohol consumption can lead to liver disease. Oh, and better yet, I hate alcoholism and what it does to destroy families and the money wasted and the jobs lost and all the terrible things that come along with alcoholism. Yet, I’m not rallying to ban bars or alcohol – even though it’s ten times worse than smoking, just by what I mentioned above. So why are you rallying against smoking? Why are you so against it? Because you find it disgusting? But drinking is not disgusting? Priorities need to be straightened out. Here’s my question to all you drinkers: is it worth making your life shorter and everyone around you angry?

Interesting perspective. See, I never meant to be “rallying” against smoking, beyond not wanting to have to sleep in a hotel room consumed by it. I think alcohol is definitely dangerous because it makes you reckless, but I’d love to see the studies that show it does as much damage to your body as smoking does. Since I have done both and am acutely aware of my body’s reactions, I’d seen the difference not smoking does, where as with drinking, I have a bad day, and that’s really it. I’m not an alcoholic, and I don’t typically abuse alcohol, but there are people that do, and make bad decisions, in both instances. Thanks for reading!

I see your argument. And I agree to an extent of binge drinking and the effects of others. But cigarettes can be purchased at 7am, while alcohol can not. Cigarettes can be ‘enjoyed’ during work, while a couple shots of whiskey, can not. Your immediate comsumption of alcohol does only intoxicate your own body regardless of your actions, while lighting up a cigarette immediately disturbs the people around you. You can see that cigarettes are more prevalent in every day life, anytime and anywhere. Alcohol already has pretty strict guide lines and so should cigarettes. No one has requested a non-drinking room in a hotel and has been bothered because “someone drank a beer in here 3 weeks ago!! I can smell it!”

I never realised, when I smoked, just how bad it was. Now I can tell if a person is a heavy or light smoker, just by standing behind them in a queue. I can tell where the smoker has been by the trail of smoke left behind.

Plus, why are so many smokers kidding themselves that smoking is not harmful?

Bookmole – That’s exactly what my husband said when he quit! He would tease me when he was a smoker, saying that I was exaggerating and it really wasn’t so bad. When I would start coughing whenever he lit up, he would even accuse me of faking it to guilt him.

It was only a couple months after he quit that we were waiting at a bus stop and a smoker lit up right next to us, and my husband started coughing. Of course, I had to make fun of him! He said he had no idea how bad it was, it was like ash blowing straight down his throat and he couldn’t stop coughing. He says that he had no idea just how awful he must have smelled either.

I think that’s a lot of the flippant attitude we see from smokers towards non-smokers. They really and truly do not realize how bad it is to be a non-smoker and have someone light up near you.

As for the “smoking isn’t harmful” people, I think it’s fairly obvious that there’s some cognitive dissonance going on – especially if they reject that second hand smoking is harmful. They don’t think of themselves as people who are hurting others, so they have to do a lot of rationalizing whenever they are faced with evidence that they are, in fact, doing something that harms the health of the people around them (and, often, the people they most love, such as their children). They will cherry-pick studies that confirm their biases and ignore the mass of ones that don’t, they assume that the person coughing and gasping and reaching for their inhaler is just faking it to guilt them. They will assume that their child’s chronic asthma problems have nothing to do with them and their smoking habit.

It’s all perfectly understandable, and it’s hard to fault them for thinking that way. It’s their brains tricking them as a defense mechanism, because who wants to think of themselves as a gross-smelling monster who willingly contributes to the poor health of their loved ones?

But while I can perfectly understand what they are going through, especially considering how addictive cigarettes are (my husband, who quit nearly a decade ago, still gets cravings – it’s like alcoholism, it doesn’t go away just because you’ve passed the withdrawal stage. For most people, it’s a constant struggle for their entire life), that doesn’t mean that I have to tolerate when a smoker stands right next to me (especially considering that I’m pregnant and soon to be carting around an infant) and lights up. We do need to be understanding and sympathetic, but we are also perfectly right to demand that smokers use the facilities that are provided for them and leave non-smokers alone.

“But cigarettes can be purchased at 7am, while alcohol can not.” Why not? Of course it can. “Cigarettes can be ‘enjoyed’ during work, while a couple shots of whiskey, can not.” Again, yes it can, thousands if not millions of people do this, they’re called “Functioning alcoholics” and they can go years without anyone noticing they have a problem…more like lack of problem if it affects them so little. “You can see that cigarettes are more prevalent in every day life, anytime and anywhere. ” I guess anywhere means not inside any public or private areas or outside within 50ft of entrances or exits and anytime means once every 3 hours for just long enough to clock-out, race outside, find the pre-approved “Freedom area”, light up, take two drags and then race back to work.

This is a great point. I personally choose not to smoke (though I have tried a cigarette) and not to drink to excess (although I have certainly over-imbibed in the past). Neither should be banned from all public places as smoking is now. My biggest problem with the bans is that, like in my home state of WA, often those bans include private property as well, so an owner of a bar or restaurant can’t choose allow smoking if he or she wanted to, and that’s just wrong. Having smoking/non-smoking areas, or specific areas where people aren’t allowed to be intoxicated (ie, public intoxication laws, drunk driving laws, etc) are extremely beneficial, but limiting what private citizens can do on private property or with private business is just wrong.

Nice story. Well I am also against this smoking habits since I just cant stand the smell. It just make me feel breathless especially in the public places. Luckily none of my brothers followed my dad bad smoking habits. There is only my dad the one that been a hardcore smoker this whole time in our house. He doesn’t even give a damn even we been nagging at him to stop smoking since he started since his school years. Now I just let it be at least he did not smokes around us most of the times.

Hi 🙂 nice post. I also tried to smoke, only once, and I know I will never do that again. Never.

It smells horrible and even if there’s a cigarette with melon, strawberry, or other fancy flavor, I promise myself, I will not smoking again. I wish there’s more places to ban smoking, because in my country, smoker can smoke almost everywhere 😦

Preach much? It’s a decision to be made individually.
“It’s when you make the right decision not to be a smoker that you can be declared a responsible adult” – this is one of the most absurd things that i have ever read. I think a big part of becoming a responsible adult is not judging people like a teenage middleschooler.

While I’m quite conservative, I tend to have some libertarian streaks. Smoking is one of them.

I used to smoke when I was younger during two periods over 6-7 years. I was never a big smoker – at most two packs a week.

It was interesting the reaction I got from some friends and coworkers who saw me smoke – they clearly didn’t see me as a smoker (it looked odd and conflicting).

I also used to smoke cigars and pipes on occassion – I still have my pipes and one very old pack of pipe tobacco. I genuinely liked the smell and taste. Quitting it all was pretty easy as I wasn’t physically addicted. I still on occassion think about smoking, but it’s just not worth the money, smell and perplexing/angering reaction I’d get from my wife and eldest child.

I’m pretty sensitive to cig. smoke now, whereas I used to not be – my wife more so. However, both of us are not keen on the laws banning cigarette smoking in various places. The less government intrusion, the better, and we feel that this is most certainly too much government. Let the free market decide. Let the consumer decide where they’ll spend their money.

It’s not surprising that the laws are being enacted around here since much of the St. Louis metro area is fairly liberal, but I’ve heard a fair number of avowed conservatives supportive of it too.

Already a number of businesses are being affected by the laws – negatively. But the free market still rules because many smokers just find other places to do their business. Often times people don’t think very far ahead and with consequences.

I think smoking is a disgusting habit. I’m totally against it (if you couldn’t already tell). Why someone would put a burning tabacco leaf to their mouth and then inhale carcinogens directly into their lungs which will kill them, is beyond me.

Why would someone drink coke, know it’s damaging to teeth? Why would someone drink alcohol, know it’s dangerous to other people and their liver? Why do people eat high-fat content foods, knowing that is can lead to a build-up of plaque in the arteries?

People do things because they are fallible. It’s part of human nature….

well, I think it’s kinda crazy to watch everything you do, but the facts surrounding smoking speak for itself. You don’t get addicted to drinking soda. It’s human nature to walk on the wild side for sure, so that’s why it’s a matter of choice. thanks for reading!

I agree with you on much of what you write.
Smoking should definitely be banned in all indoor public places including hotels. This change in the culture is a positive one for the most part as it has not only inspired many to quit, but it has also made those who smoke more aware and therefore more respectful of others.
The answer to your question why do people still smoke?
Smoking is an addiction. Some have mastered the art of quitting. Some haven’t. That said, I know that many who quit really just transfer their addiction to something else like food, alcohol or nastiness so I suppose that they haven’t mastered it all. That said, I I do applaud anyone who quits.
As for the “I tried it but was smart enough not to make it a habit position.” Clearly, you don’t understand that certain chemicals react differently in different people’s bodies. Some will have a reaction to nicotine that immediately leaves them wanting more, some simply won’t so I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it has anything at all to do with having a superior intellect.
The time and the place for smoking is never if you don’t want to risk addiction, because we really cannot control how our own body chemistry will be affected.
Next time you find yourself offended by someone else’s obnoxious second-hand smoke, you could try stepping into the exhaust of a passing car instead. The oil and gas that we insist on burning by the ton each day is far more expensive than cigarettes and is not so slowly killing the planet.
Just something to think about.
Congratulations on making it to Freshly Pressed. I do think that it was well-deserved.

I love being told what I don’t understand! 🙂 I do understand that it is an addiction. I do understand that there are chemical reactions. I also understand some people will never be strong enough to defeat this via mind over matter. I do understand that some people are more prone to addiction than others. I didn’t come to reach my opinion over night. It’s an imperfect world, and all the anti-smoking campaigns and laws won’t fix it. I don’t agree that smoking should be banned in all indoor places. It should be easy enough to get away from it as it is to get near it is all I say.

It’s curious to see how entitled we all feel. “It’s my right not to smell unpleasant things! Or have my health affected at all by anyone!” Having just a so-so air quality is not fundamentally a right. Jefferson would laugh at you. The health hysteria has shown me this: one doesn’t need to be religious to be self-righteous. Maybe health is the new religion? People have lost all moral concerns, but goodness knows they’re sticklers when it comes to health.

I have a quote by Saul Bellow about the American philosopher Allan Bloom I would like to share,

“With a large no smoking sign behind him, [Bloom] lit cigarettes with his Dunhill flame as he lectured saying, ‘If you leave because you hate tobacco more than you love ideas, you won’t be missed.'”

We’re obsessed with living but not living well. Your health will fade, the body decay. Emotionally, I think we subconsciously believe this is no longer inevitable. I mean, look at the way we acquire things! The desire for unlimited acquisition is always indicative of the belief in unlimited life, tacitly.

Anyway, congrats on getting freshly pressed. You said this is for the second time?

Haha, no you certainly have right to life. But to an unadulterated perfect existence, you do not. For instance, when a man owns a restaurant it’s his, not yours and you can’t make him change it to suit your tastes.

Also, the mark of the self-righteous isn’t a selfishness but the cocksure belief that they are doing everyone a favor; that because they are truly helping the world anyone who opposes them is stupid or wicked.
And I wasn’t referring to the constitution as the sole guarantor of our rights. Americans have recourse to the Founding principles for the enumeration of those. The constitution only is with respect to our federal government. Anyway, one wonders why he wastes his breath on such things anymore though, no?
Equality for all and everything! Let’s have it out and over with, the sooner the better.

I am truly amazed at the way our culture has changed. Smoking used to be the norm, now you can’t do it anywhere. Some places have you stand at least 15 feet away. Then again I have been in rooms that were not supposed to be smoking rooms and found a pack of cigarettes behind a dresser.

Whenever I’m around someone smoking I tell them they must be rich, they can afford to smoke! It is a powerful addiction, I know. Thank goodness I never started! My sister works at a state facility for people with behavior disabilities and brain injury and so many of them will spend all of what very little money they get on cigarettes. She tells them they could buy CD’s or other fun stuff but they can’t give up their cigs. It is their right to kill themselves by smoking just like the general population. North Coast Muse @ http://sally1029.wordpress.com

Like you, I can’t stand the smell of smoke. The problem is that people insist on smoking everywhere. My city has nice out-of-the-way smoking areas, but smokers just really want to be able to smoke on the sidewalk while they are walking. So all of us poor schmucks stuck behind them (or in front, or to the side – with so many of them, there really isn’t any escape) get smoke blow right into our faces.

I’m noticing it even more now that I’m expecting. I spend a solid 15-20 minutes every single day inhaling smoke from other people’s cigarettes and I have no way around that (short of quitting my job). I can’t believe how disrespectful it is. I’ve often had the experience of sitting on a bus stop bench, right under a No Smoking sign, and having someone sit right next to me and light up. Just recently, I and a very (about to pop very) pregnant woman were sitting at a bus stop when a smoker sat between us. So there he was, huffing and puffing away happily, with a pregnant woman on either side of him.

And I realize this isn’t so much the smokers’ fault as it is my building manager’s, but we have a terrible ventilation system (trying to move, but this is literally the only apartment in the entire city that’s within my price range). So in winter, when people start smoking indoors (or next to an open window, as if that does anything other than blow smoke back into the apartment), it all comes through our heating vents. I generally spend my winters with a constant cough and sore through because I sleep in a room drenched with smoke.

I do realize that a smoker can’t smell the smoke as accutely as a non-smoker can, and I do sympathize with the addiction aspect – I just wish that more smokers were respectful about their habit. You may be pressed for time, but if you really want that cigarette, just walk away from crowds of people. If you really don’t have a choice, move downwind from others. If you really need to sit on the bus stop bench and smoke, ask the people there if they mind. It only takes a little effort, but it makes such a huge difference for the people who don’t really want to be inhaling your drug.

There are smoke-free housing areas in my city, but they are very expensive and have very (very!) long waiting lists. The market for smoke-free buildings is huge, but landlors just aren’t catching on for some reason.

Congratulations on being on Freshly Pressed! Smoking has taken too many of my loved ones too soon. It really seems like a slow way to kill yourself. I guess we have to have a better understanding of the addictive properties of smoking and find ways that help people to end their addiction.
I avoid being anywhere near smoking…makes me want to gag and you can only hold your breath so long.

I’m 14 years young and I live in Switzerland. I have never tried to smoke, beacause it’s uncool. At my school, there are only few smoker. You have written: “One day, I’m sure. One day.” I think this day is nearer, than you think 🙂

I just came across your blog when I saw it listed on WordPress’s picks. The concept resonated with me especially since I turned thirty a year ago and started a series of posts a few months earlier, on the same thing. Just stopping by to say it’s not necessarily as dark as the world sometimes makes it out to be.

There are people who share my distaste for smoking! Yay! I was raised by my grandpa who has been a heavy smoker for most of his life (although he has finally quit two years ago) and who would also smoke most often out in the garage, which was where our basketball hoop was and all our athletic equipment. As my brother and I (both with asthma) were pretty athletic kids, we eventually started bringing all our stuff inside the house so they wouldn’t smell like cigarettes.

My grandpa wouldn’t smoke in the house at all, which is something that I’m grateful for. But even so, I frequently had problems breathing because of him smoking the garage. At the end of the day, people can smoke if they want to, but I think they have to be at least respectful to the people who don’t. It is very annoying when I’m walking down a sidewalk and someone in front of me has a cigarette that’s just blowing straight into my face. Again, they have the right to smoke, but when there are more people around them that hate the smell, I think they should do it somewhere else – somewhere where no one would be bothered by it.

I dunno – I don’t personally care for smoking, but on the other hand – if you’re an adult, and make that decision for yourself, who am I to judge or try to regulate that? On the other other hand, I don’t want to have to smell it, breathe it or pay for it. On the other other other hand, booze probably hurts more people that cigarettes in ways that can’t ever be fully captured, so why wouldn’t that fall in the same category? Ay yay yay, what a quandry. I guess it comes down to understanding the simple truth that people will often make decisions in pursuit of their own happiness that we may, from where sit, judge as stupid decisions (i.e. smoking). But as long as their pursuit of their happiness doesn’t take away someone else’s…

I don’t think people smoke to find happiness. From my experience, people smoke to relieve stress, or out of sadness or depression. And some just get addicted before any of that stuff happens. I definitely think booze can cause harm in different ways than smoking since it causes impairment, but it’s more common to see smokers outside on their lunch breaks than alcoholics. Smokers seem to function better in society.

[…] by anwesham27 in Uncategorized Last week, I arrived late at night to a hotel on a business trip. I couldn’t wait to get into my room and just relax. On the first try, they sent me to a room that was already occupied by my photographer (somehow they thought we were sharing a room and I was not about to share a room with my male colleague, though it did make for an interesting story the next day) So they gave me another room. At this point, it’s about 11:30 at night and I ha … Read More […]

You know, while I can’t say that I condone smoking, that is something that should be the choice of the user, I read an interesting article recently about old naval medical journals being discovered. In those journals, it listed several different ways that tobacco was used to cure or at least treat various afflictions. Interesting where our society has come from and where it is going.

There’s a reason smoking was seen as cool when you were a kid: because it is cool! Cary Grant lighting Eva Marie Saint’s cigarette in that train in North By Northwest is probably the sexiest thing ever to be filmed!

I don’t smoke and sorry to say hate smoking just because my brother was smoking and this was done in my bedroom, when I was kid.
Never ever smoked, nut I think that I did not loose anything.
Nice blog!

[…] Last week, I arrived late at night to a hotel on a business trip. I couldn’t wait to get into my room and just relax. On the first try, they sent me to a room that was already occupied by my photographer (somehow they thought we were sharing a room and I was not about to share a room with my male colleague, though it did make for an interesting story the next day) So they gave me another room. At this point, it’s about 11:30 at night and I ha … Read More […]

“banning” things adults CHOOSE to do, like smoking cigs, is part of the troubling Nanny-state that this country is becoming all too frequently.
Choice…it is a choice…nobody MAKES somebody smoke any more than they MAKE you eat a candy bar and get fat because you do not CHOOSE to exercise. If I owned a restaurant or motel, there would certainly be places for the smokers and non-smokers. I am sure there is something that YOU do that “offends” other adults. Too much political correctness; too much nannyism.
Kudos on getting “pressed”.

Now that’s another new one for me. I’ve definitely never been accused of being politically correct! Ha! I thought I was pretty clear about the idea of CHOICE being important. But I do agree – we are in a total nanny-state.

“I’m not a smoker. Never have been, never will be. And quite frankly, I don’t understand people who still are.”

If you are not a smoker, never been and never will be, how could you possibly understand people who do smoke?

Besides, there is nothing much to “understand”: people don’t smoke because they have good reasons to smoke. It’s not like that. It is AN ADDICTION. Addictions control people. So those who smoke, smoke because they are not strong enough to resist their addiction. It’s as simple as that.

The only reason why you cannot understand it is because, luckily for you, you have never been addicted to smoking. It is not because you are cleverer.

And frankly, that someone is smoking 6 feet away from is hardly something to be “offended” by.

Move to New York, then tell me someone smoking on the street next to you isn’t offensive. And just because I haven’t been addicted, doesn’t mean I don’t “get” addiction. I’ve been intimately involved with addicts and addictions in the past. I’ve come to reach my opinion on smoking through much reflection. Nothing is overnight, and it’s not like I hate people who smoke. I just don’t want to have to breathe it in, if it can be avoided, like in a hotel room, that I am paying for. Thanks for reading!

New York is a crowded place. Just yesterday, I almost got burned in a crowd by a cigarette smoker. Getting burned is offensive to me.

As bloggers know, it is not logical to go into depth to make a point in a blog post. Visitors read 50% less text online that they do in print, so perhaps that’s why you are feeling a lack of depth. I gave my perspective as clearly as I could. I have tolerated smoking all my life and known many addicts. I even worked for Alcoholics Anonymous for a time.

If smokers were respectful enough to stay 6 feet away from me, I would never complain at all. In fact, I’d be perfectly happy!

Unfortunately, while I am sure that some smokers are respectful, many are not. Smokers walk along the same sidewalks as I do, in such numbers that I can’t escape the smoke just by moving away from one smoker. People smoke right outside my building’s door (not 9 feet away, as indicated by the sign they stand next to) so that I have to go through “the gauntlet” just to get in and out of work every day. I’ve had smokers stand right next to me, nearly touching me, at crosswalks and bus stops. Smokers walk into crowds at bus stops and light up, right in the middle of a press of people. Sitting on benches, again at bus stops, sometimes at the park, I’ve had people sit next to me and light up.

If you really think that smokers always stay at least 6 feet away from people and are respectful, you are simply naive. I can understand addiction, I’ve gone through it myself (and helped my husband quit smoking), but asking that smokers be respectful of others is not a question of addiction. It’s a question of human decency.

You’re right, the cultural change around smoking has been huge. At first prissy non-smokers were the bad guys, now smokers are careful to seperate themselves off so as not to blow smoke in anyone elses face.

I had a similar smoking travel incident, but in Prague. Everyone smokes everywhere there! Walking through restaurants or our hotel lobby was an exercise in how long I could hold my breath. I guess it’s a good reminder of how good we have it 95% of the time.

People smoke outside of my work and it’s like an ambush when you walk out the door. It just smacks you in the face. How can that be appealing to anyone? At least they banned smoking in restaurants now in Virginia. I can eat without gagging on smoke.

I have to admit that no matter how beautiful a woman is, if she is smoking a cigarette I lose interest right away. I have no desire to smell like smoke or kiss a smoker.

Oh, please. While I’ll concede that it’s wiser NOT to smoke, the general consensus against smoking these days is ultimately a massive bandwagon that is more based on conformity, self-importance, and a justification to hate something than it is a general concern for the health of the public and individuals. Allow me to also point out the irony in the condemnation of smokers while treating drinking to inebriation as rational and safe behavior.

Sorry I sound mean, but this is a hot-button issue for me, and I haven’t been a smoker for nearly 8 years.

Thanks for your comment. I appreciate you not directly categorizing me — I hope that my post was clear in saying that I came to this decision on my own through trial and error. I am not often swayed by public opinion, as many of my friends can confirm. There have been many responses to this post regarding alcoholism, and I am not commenting on alcoholism. The purpose of this post was to vent about my personal frustrations with dealing with smoking. Inevitably, it is the individual’s choice. I choose not to smoke, and I choose to stay clear of people who do when I can. Thanks for reading!

“Massive bandwagon of self-importance is now leaving Grand Central. Allll ABOARD!” You so silly. How can wanting to live smoke-free possibly be turned into a negative thing. Do you believe people who workout ‘are pretentious drones who have rebelled against Americanized conformity of obesity?’ Nooo, cause that’s silly 🙂

I’m a smoker, I don’t like the smell of it, I don’t like the taste of it, but I smoke because I’m addicted and I don’t have the will power to give up right now, although I do hope to find it in the not too distant future. I am also a passive smoker as my partner smokes a lot more than I do so I probably inhale an extra 2 or 3 cigarettes a day compared to what I actually smoke.

BUT I am a respectful smoker. Before the smoking ban in England, if I was with a non smoker I always asked if they minded that I light up, I would never conciously go and smoke next to pregnant women or children and if there were designated smoking areas that is where you would find me. I’m a bit of a goody two shoes and would never dream of smoking in a no smoking area and if any of my smoker friends tried to I would be the first person to ask them not to.

Having said that, since the smoking ban was enforced, smokers have been pushed out from restaurants, cafes and bars and onto the streets but now non smokers don’t want them there either. So where exactly should smokers go?

It seems that non smokers won’t be happy until it is illegal. If or when that happens, I hope they will be happy with their tax increases, because governments are going to be losing a hell of a lot of income.

This isn’t meant to be a rant about non smokers just because I do smoke, as I said I try to be respectful about when and where I smoke, unfortunately there are rude people everywhere, smokers and non smokers alike. But reading the comments it looks like for every disrespectful smoker there is one ignorant non smoker who doesn’t understand addiction.

Just wanted to add that I do find it amusing how many Americans are clearly so offended by smokers when they were the world’s biggest polluters for many, many years. I think the pollution one country is causing to the ENTIRE WORLD is far more offensive than passive smoking for 30 seconds as you pass by a smoker. But one topic at a time. I know.

Good post and grats on FP, clearly a topic lots of people have strong feelings about!

yes, very emotional topic indeed! I never dreamed of this response! Sometimes you forget that the world is listening.

I really appreciate your comment. It was thoughtful and fair. I do hope you find the strength to quit before it is too late. I understand it is hard to fight addiction, and I am blessed not to be addicted, but I hope you can defeat it one day. I don’t think making it illegal makes any sense. If more smokers were respectful like you, the world would be a better, kinder place, smoke and all.

Can you speak of smoking when you are not a smoker? When you do not know what it is like to be addicted? Why so quick to judge? You just put a whole group of people into a negative category. Though, I do agree…smoking is bad…but its not something to hold over someone or a group of people.

If you read my post more clearly, I came to reach my position after years of trial and error, watching addiction among my family and friends, people I loved. I tried smoking, and when I didn’t smoke, I felt the difference. My post was not meant to group people together, and I certainly wasn’t jumping to conclusions. I just don’t want to have to inhale smoke if I don’t smoke, tis all. Thanks for reading!

I am a reformed smoker, the day I found out I had Breast Cancer was the day I quit cold turkey. There was no way I could possibly smoke knowing I had cancer. I understand both sides. I do NOT want Gov’t. involved in the great smoking debate, though. Tell me where and when have their interference helped?!
If the room at the Hotel was that abhorrent to me, no matter how tired I was I would have gotten up and gone down and gotten another room! I understand your bitching about Smoking I now HATE it, the smell of the smoke, during, the after smell everything having to do with it, but people do have the right. I wish smoker’s would use their common sense and decency, but do any group, NO! Think of all the drunken bums at sport events who act like idiots…Get up get away from the problem, you are the one it’s bothering, it IS A FREE country!! And it is LEGAL!

Thanks for sharing. I have lost many to cancer caused by smoking, and I do hope you pull through this tough time in your life. I never said people didn’t have the right to smoke. It’s a free country. And I do everything in my power to remove myself from the situation, but I shouldn’t always be the one inconvenienced, either. If you read some of the comments below, some people can’t even open the windows to their homes because of smokers. When it gets in the way of your everyday living, if you are being intruded upon, there’s only so many times you can turn away. But like I said, it’s a free country, and I’ve been blessed with the freedom of speech which I am using today. Thanks for reading!

Great post! I play tenpin bowling and I remember when I was younger all the adults would smoke behind the lanes. I would sit as far forward in the player’s area as I could to escape it but nevertheless the smoke still wafted down. I hated it! Needless to say, it was a welcome relief when smoking eventually became banned in the bowl.

I can understand that people who do not smoke do not want to be around the smell of smoke all the time. I mean no one is really attracted to the smell of smoking its the addiction that gets you. I do however feel that if you want to smoke go right ahead just respect others who do not like it.

“can’t imagine paying $9 a pack for something that will slowly kill me.”

Actually you could if you took a moment to empathize. Think of something that comforts you at the end of those long days, something that gives you simple enjoyment in life, something that you couldn’t imagine ever giving up for the rest of your life.

There you go, that’s what it feels like to be addicted to cigarettes. That’s why people don’t quit for very many reasons. Most of the time its for love, family, or their immediate health, three things that any sane person wouldn’t live without.

hello…
smoking is one select like die or live…
all of the people on the world have Choice???
but some times they cant do it…and they should smoking…one example…i cant live without computer without reza sadeghi songs(iranian pop singer) and i cant and i cant.
thanks…

I feel pity for yoy. Complaining about something that could have been so easily solved.

In my country we have a very strong anti-smoking-lobby and they got smoking banned from pubs and restaurants. The effects for pubowners are so sad. They have about 30% less income, while the expenses keep rising, and the fines are ridiculous. Many small pubs had to be closed, because the non-smokers are so antisocial that they rather stay at home 😦 even after they got what they wanted!

And that’s what got to me: First being so selfish to demand non-smoking areas everywhere and constant complaining about the smoking in pubs, restaurants, stations and when they’ve reached their goal, they let the businessowners rot by staying at home. It has done way more damage than many could have imagined (even it was calculated!), but are they willing to pay the losses for the businessowners? No they are, because they are the selfish people they’ve showed to be.

I’ve been a smoker for many years and i’m a non-smoker for many years now too. But the freaked out reactions of many non-smokers are way out of line. These reactions are simply antisocial, and have proven to ruin complete families and businesses.

Why shouldn’t there be some rooms for smokers in a hotel? That viewpoint is so selfish, it makes me wonder why you are so antisocial? Smokingrooms are also income to the hotel, so as long as there are smokers, there should be smoking rooms. These poor smokers are already paying way more taxes than we do, so let’s give them credit for that. Without smokers, the cost for the elderly would be way higher, and we can’t pay it as it is, so smoking saves a lot of money for people who choose to stay at home like Dagobert Duck’s being as antisocial as he is.

That you aren’t bold enough to go to the reception for a second time is YOUR problem, but you try to make it a smokers problem. Keep the problem to your self lady, grow up and solve your own problems.

The first mistake was made by the one making the booking. We have a lot of businesstrips too, and always book in for one person per room, so the “somehow they thought we were sharing a room”-mistake is the basic problem here (and basically YOUR mistake), but you turn it to someone elses problem 😦

It’s a ‘modern’ problem (although it started with Adam and Eve) that people don’t take responsibility for their own actions and mistakes, but try to blame on ‘the other’. Come on, grow up and take your own responsibility!

If only you had a clue before you jumped to conclusions. The booking mistake was made by the hotel, who has apologized profusely. Pity me all you want. You are telling me to grow up when you are just so quick to judge. Keep making excuses for yourself. Maybe one of these blogs will get you to respect other people’s opinions. Thanks for reading!

Relativo – I don’t know where you live, but every place I’ve heard of that made smoking in pubs and restaurants illegal has seen a boom in business. Certainly in my town, the bars are overjoyed at the new laws because not only are they still getting the smokers (who just go outside when they want to smoke), but they are now also getting non-smokers.

Also, calling non-smokers “anti-social” and “selfish” isn’t really condusive to dialogue, now is it? Perhaps you should go calm down for a bit and come back when you aren’t quite so hysterical.

The anti smoking in public places killed small town America and I agree with the above person that the people complaining don’t even go to the bars. They just want to be King and tell everyone else what to do. I think it should be up to the individual owners unless it’s a place where children will be.

I smoked for 35 years and have not smoked for 4. I don’t think smokers are criminals but I do think people should be respectful of others. Smoking was a terrible addiction I got in the early 70’s at 13 years old. People are always so quick to judge others. Just look at the comments on this post. It’s pretty sad.

i have no problem with people who smoke or with smoking. I would not say im smoker cos i would only ever have a puff if everyone around me is smoking. I liked it when smoking was banned in public places like the restaurants and malls and all that kind of places. Esp the restaurant. I remember when there were smoking seats in restaurants – i likened it to having a peeing area in swimming pools.

I know smoking is an addiction however taking up smoking is a choice. Its up to individuals. Its pretty much like choosing your own religion or choosing what to wear or to be a vegan or not. What i hate is when people try to shove into people’s throat what they believe is right. Fair enough someone said he dislike smoking – stop there. Dont expect people to dislike smoking just because you do.

For me as long as you dont smoke around my child or around me when im pregnant ,i dont care. Puff away.

I’m pregnant, but it’s autumn and I wear a big coat. Smokers can’t tell (although honestly, I’ve seen many smokers who just don’t care – I’ve seen smokers light up right next to obviously pregnant women before, forcing the women to move). I have smokers lighting up right next to me every single day and I have absolutely no options. They light up at the bus stop so my only choice is either to sit in the smoke or move so far away from the bus stop that I will miss the bus when it comes. They smoke on the sidewalks, so my only choice is to either walk in smoke or walk in the middle of the road.

I have absolutely no way to protect myself or my baby. I’m stuck. The worst part is that my city has been very good about providing areas for smokers. Most alleys have been turned into little smoker’s terraces. They are clean, they have picnic tables, they have little trash thingies for the smokers to put their butts. They’re out of the way enough that smoke doesn’t spill out into the sidewalks so it doesn’t bother pedestrians.

They’re also consistantly empty. Smokers would rather light up right outside the doors of their buildings than walk ten feet to the area provided. Not all smokers are like this, obviously, but it certainly seems that the vast majority just don’t care about non-smokers – pregnant or not, baby or not, toddler or not.

The last thing I’ll do is smoking. I also just can’t stand that. But there’re still many friends around me do have the habit . I guess I could be alive longer without smoking so much second-cigarette among them.

I work in the Tobacco Prevention and Control program in Idaho. Yesterday, before I left work, I had a half-hour conversation with an elderly woman who lives in an apartment building where smoking is allowed. She’s suffering, as are her other elderly friends. Yet, I had to tell her there’s nothing I can do because our state’s Clean Indoor Air law exempts apartments. She and her friends will probably have to move, but not before some damage is done to their health. People are as resistant to accepting the health hazards of secondhand smoke as they were to “the earth is round.” There are days when I’d rather sell widgets than behavior change.

That’s my problem as well. All through winter, when people smoke indoors more and our heating system (which is operated through vents) is on, I will actually have a smoke haze in my apartment even though none of us smoke. I wake up with a sore throat every morning.

I can’t really blame the smokers, since its their own apartment and if they can’t smoke there, where can they smoke? My problem is with the building managers who don’t take better precautions to insulate the apartments (vent system for heating? Seriously? Stupidest idea ever). We also have almost no smoke-free apartment buildings in my city, and the ones we do have are ridiculously expensive and have very long waiting lists. I would love for more landlords to convert their buildings so that the prices go down a bit. There’s such a demand, but landlords just don’t seem to be cluing in.

I hope those elderly people find an alternative. I know from personal experience how difficult it is, especially if you’re on a fixed income and can’t buy a stand-alone home.

A lot things could be improved to make people stop smoking. In end though people smoke if they want to. I therefore think the best path to follow is to prohibit smoking in restaurants, bars and other pubic places.

Funny right, no matter how educated we are, we still have the urge to commit suicide by this lil’ ‘relaxing’ habit ( forget about the passive smoking bit!!!) Worser is the ad that accompanies all the cigarette packs, ” Smoking is injurious to health”. If they could have micro-printed it further according to the law, they already would have !!

While I understand where you’re coming from, I actually found this post one dimensional and self righteous. Moderately hypocritical, too.

Like this comment: “It’s when you make the right decision not to be a smoker that you can be declared a responsible adult.”

Which then contradicts this comment: “I think there can be a time and place for smoking; a rare time and place when you are just so hammered or hungover nothing will help except a little inhalation.”

(And by the way, completely agree with the comments that pointed out the hypocrisy of embracing alcohol use but condemning (other people’s) habit of smoking. As if spousal abuse/ murder, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, drunk driving, assault, etc., don’t negatively affect other people. Seriously.)

And both comments completely contradict your rant about understanding addiction.

From some of the comments you’ve left in the comment field, it seems like you do have a deeper understanding of the issue, at least to some degree, but your blog post doesn’t portray that depth.

The majority of the smokers I know don’t lavish in their addiction, nor are they proud. It is something they struggle with, sometimes for years. I know three people right now who are on oral drugs to help with quitting smoking and they’re still struggling. All of these people started smoking when they were young.

Smoking has been banned in most public places and smoking culture has dramatically changed, which is definitely a great thing. But I do think smokers deserve more support and empathy. Would we go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and go up to the new guy and tell him he is child-like and his actions are disgusting? Probably not.

Some people enjoy being smokers and I think they should have the right to do so. But that, of course, is a matter of opinion.

thanks for sharing your opinion and attempting not to judge me in return. I think there is a difference between being a smoker and smoking occasionally, if they wasn’t clear in the pieces you quoted. I’m not perfect and don’t claim to be. I just know what I don’t like. thanks for reading!

Smoking. Just the word makes me wince a little. All throughout my childhood and adolescence, I was surrounded by smoke. My dad smoked every single day. My dad was a single dad, and together with my grandma and uncle Joe, raised me. My dad and I were extremely close and he was everything to me. I didn’t mind it because it was such a regular part of my life, but I still urged my dad to quit several times. I bought a “no smoking” sign and put it on the fridge, but it was promptly taken down. I’ve thrown out his cigarettes and got yelled at. I tried smoking once in 7th grade just to understand the fuss. I wasn’t pressured into it, I requested it to a friend who was smoking. I took one drag, and that was enough for the rest of my life. In March of my senior year of high school, right around my dad’s fiftieth birthday, my dad tells me he has throat cancer. He waited until I had made my decision on picking a college, because he didn’t want his health to affect my decision. I didn’t even know how to react when my family sat me down and told me. The next week or the week after, my dad had major surgery to remove both of the lymph-nodes in his throat. They ended up also removing about 3/4th of his tongue. He was in the hospital for days, while I continued to go to HS every morning. On my birthday, in April, my dad was in a coma. Somehow he woke up and called me up and sang happy birthday to me on my eighteenth birthday. I couldn’t understand him because, well, he didn’t have a tongue, and had just woken up from a coma. For the rest of the spring and summer I had a very difficult time accepting the pain my dad was in. He started going for chemo, lost all of his hair, and got burned and sick from the radiation. He couldn’t eat anything and had no energy for life. I was terrified and depressed but I tried to go on, going out with friends, and avoiding the reality. Even now, five years later, I regret not spending more time with him that summer. I was so afraid. In the fall I went off to college, 4 states away. My dad came with me and at the moment when the provost gives a speech, and the parents say goodbye to their kids, my dad whispered something in my ear, witty and full of wisdom, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. We wrote each other a few letters during the fall of my freshman year, and that was pretty much our only correspondence. I didn’t have a car so I didn’t see him. One weekend in November I begged my friend to drive me the 5 hours home, spontaneously. I surprised my dad. The next weekend he died. Writing this is really difficult for me, but it needs to be shared with people. My dad was the most important person in my life, and this November will be the 5th anniversary of his death. I have accepted it, and I go on with my life, thriving and trying to succeed, but I will never be “okay” with losing him.

Having said ALL that, I do feel that it is a person’s choice if they want to use or abuse substances. Being around people who are smoking, blowing cigarette smoke in my face while I’m walking down the street, etc., there’s nothing I can do about that except give them the evil eye. It hurts me when I see someone smoke, because of my dad, and because no one deserves what my dad went through, or what our family went through. I also care about my own health. I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke, I try to eat healthy, etc. I can control those things, but I can’t control getting second-hand smoke. It IS a person’s choice, and it does, I’ve heard, help you relax, etc. But there’s also reading a book, or doing yoga, or something far less harmful.

I’ve got an idea…instead of banning smoking in restaurants, banning it in hotels, banning it here, banning it there…

Let’s just go ahead and make it an illegal substance just like cocaine?

Hmmm, next step would be to make alcohol illegal. I just HATE it when I’m in a hotel room or a restaurant where there were people drinking in their rooms or at their tables. The smell of beer just makes me sick.

too bad your sarcasm is not rooted in any fact whatsoever (unless you have the nose of a dog, beer doesn’t fill the air the way smoke does), but I can appreciate sarcasm nonetheless, as this post was very specific to smoking. I have blogged about drinking before, and am clearly not against it.

Where I come from hardly anyone smokes and I haven’t seen anyone smoke inside anywhere for decades. But I had a Chilean friend come over and she was surprised that no one smoked and that she had to smoke inside. I believe New Zealand will be one of the first countries to ban Cigerettes.

i too find smoking a bad habbit. Though people know the aftermaths of the smoking they are stuck to it. I do have my freings who smoke and i can say that i do smoke indirectly when I am around them though I haven’t smoked directly. I too feel very bad when smell ciggarattes or let me say the cancer stick. So it would better if the smokers do it in considerable places or atleast not in the public places like hotel, buses, offices.

I started smoking to get breaks at work and kept it up because I liked how it satisfied my oral fixation and complimented coffee and alcohol. The nicotine stimulated my brain while I wrote or socialized. However, I could tell that my health suffered for it. I’ve since cut back to a point where I am basically a non-smoker but, like you, I still enjoy the occasional smoke.

I’m glad the following generations will live in a world that doesn’t glamorize smoking but why should they (and we) have the right to smoke? We cannot avoid death so why do we try so hard to prolong the inevitable?

Dean and Withheld: Not even a good try. You both just skittered down the slippery slope. In fact, that’s exactly what your comments about banning candy, alcohol, etc. are – the slippery slope logical fallacy. As far as candy and alcohol – neither is harmful to someone standing nearby or living among the candy and alcohol fanatics. Please don’t clutch to the argument that alcohol is harmful in that it kills drivers and pedestrians. That would be yet another false conclusion. People get drunk and drive, yes, but blame it on their own personal choice and perhaps lax drunk driving laws.

It appears that too many smokers through denial or ignorance continue to fall into the camp of doubters- even in the face of solid evidence that secondhand smoke is a health hazard, you report flimsy evidence that it does not.

And twotwenty: You think you can’t do anything about it? I wish you’d give that another thought. I’m sure that in your state there’s a Tobacco Prevention program that would love to have you as a grassroots, community member and advocate. While you’re not speaking up, believe me, the Tobacco industry is addicting yet another teen.

And the rest of the smokers here: I feel for you. I work in the Tobacco Prevention program as I said and we’re not militant about our message to smokers. We’re there to help people if and when they’re ready to quit. No shaming, no screeching. We even offer a 4-week free supply of nicotine patches, gum or lozenges to smokers and chewers. But hear this: I’d love to support your right to smoke WHEN and IF you start paying out of your pocket for the enormous health costs associated with your habit – costs that I have to bear. I’ll support your right to smoke when you stop doing it where nonsmokers live, work and play. I’ll support your right to smoke when you start paying the productivity losses your companies experience because you have far more sick days and other smoking-related absences than nonsmokers.

It’s not my intent to offend or harangue. But smoking – it’s really not all about you and your rights.

Funny you mention the news media. I actually work in communications so if my sentences read like sound bites, that might be why. Anyways, I think it’s a matter of opinion, and my opinion is, after lots of thought, reading, and living, that it is irresponsible to smoke — for yourself mainly, for your children, and for those around you. Once again, a matter of opinion.

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